Recent MC2 Alum Kelsey Fulton Receives John Karat Award

A recent alum from the Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2) has been honored with the 2023 John Karat Usable Privacy and Security Student Research Award for their strong leadership and contributions to the field.

Kelsey Fulton, who graduated earlier this year with their Ph.D. in computer science, was presented with the award at the 19th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) in Anaheim, California. The event brings together interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners in human-computer interaction, security and privacy.

The award is given in honor of John Karat’s contributions to the usable privacy and security community and his dedication to mentoring students. Karat, who passed away in 2015, was an internationally recognized researcher in the field of human-computer interaction.

Graduate students are eligible for the award based on their research in usable privacy and security, efforts to mentor others, and community service in the field, such as volunteer activities at conferences.

Michelle Mazurek, an associate professor of computer science and Fulton’s adviser, says Fulton is immensely qualified for this year’s award.

“Kelsey has produced top-notch research, demonstrated tremendous leadership at UMD and in usable security more broadly, and is a star student,” she says.

Mazurek adds that Fulton has published four first-author papers at top conferences—with more in the pipeline. They have also been an excellent mentor to several undergraduate students and shown incredible leadership at UMD and in the human-centered security research community by pioneering peer support programs at the university, repeatedly organizing the Workshop on Security Information Workers at SOUPS, and serving as a co-chair for SOUPS poster sessions.

Mazurek, who is also the director of MC2, has worked closely with several previous Karat winners, including UMD alumni Elissa Redmiles and Dan Votipka.

Fulton will start as a tenure-track assistant professor in computer science at Colorado School of Mines in the fall. Their research explores the human factors of information security with a focus on software developers and security professionals.

“I feel incredibly honored to be recognized with this prestigious award and to know that my contributions to the usable security community have been impactful,” Fulton says.

—Story by Melissa Brachfeld, UMIACS communications group